The ever-growing involvement of InsurTech in the insurance operations requires us to consider the question of the level of disruption that the new technologies may have had on the insurance services, and therefore on society. To answer this question, the areas of insurance services in which InsurTech has been predominantly employed are explored. Following that, the social and economic impact of InsurTech is discussed together with the fundamental principles that guide the business and legal operation of insurance services.

Digital entrepreneurs create digital businesses through digital media funnels such as web applications, social media, mobile SMS and emails, providing digital products and services. Nowadays, it is relatively seamless for digital entrepreneurs to adopt the diverse digital tools and techniques in developing their products and services. Moreover, the avalanche that is the current digital era is changing the processes for many existing business models, in the financial sector, the health sector and many more. As a result of these changes, digital entrepreneurs are faced with new challenges and exposed to unprecedented risks. This chapter discusses the challenges faced by digital entrepreneurs and start-ups within business sectors such as fintech, insurtech, retailtech, biotech, healthtech and fashiontech. In addition, two case studies that demonstrate the existing challenges are highlighted with their corresponding focus points. The chapter concludes with a summary of the key points addressed and a few recommendations for digital entrepreneurs.

This chapter discusses the world of financial technology, or fintech, which can be defined as the intersection of financial services and digital technologies. The fintech ecosystem involves a wide range of players that together have transformed the financial services industry, embraced and stimulated innovation and continuously improved customer experience. This chapter provides an in-depth macro analysis of the global fintech industry, describing the current status of the market as well as highlighting current and future trends for the sector. Further, the chapter discusses the impact of digitalization on fintech firms by delineating the opportunities as well as the challenges that it has brought. The last section of the chapter includes two fintech cases studies belonging to the currently “hottest” sub-segments of the sector, namely, “insurtech” and “realtech,” in each case highlighting the main characteristics of the application or platform, presenting the founding team and describing the main company competitiveness indicators for time-to-market as well as user value.

Individuals are not the only actors becoming consumers of genetic testing. Other third-party intermediaries are increasingly becoming consumers by offering testing to their own consumers. This article focuses on a relatively new actors in this space–life insurers. Life insurers are becoming genetic consumers through both underwriting and through policyholder wellness programs. These uses in many ways mirror employers’ forays into the genetics sphere, through hiring and employee wellness programs. On the one hand, increase of such testing can provide access to preventive genetic information and encourage a healthier society. On the other, it increases risks of coercion, privacy violations, and discrimination. This chapter assesses the legal landscape surrounding insurer-initiated genetic testing. The laws regulating insurer use in underwriting are relatively clear-cut, albeit generally permissive and variable across states; however, there is much less clarity regarding how life insurer wellness programs could or should be regulated. This chapter puts forth several regulatory proposals to protect individuals from privacy and discrimination concerns. Without such protections, there is the very real potential for the data benefits to accrue to the testing and insurance companies while the underlying harms befall the individual–a weighty warning for those consuming genetics as an insurance consumer.

Chapter 4 examines commercial imperatives for collections of sensor data by exploring the rapid development of smart home insurance business models. A brief history of smart home insurance is provided to situate three conceptualised models of smart home data exchange partnership involving insurers and smart home device or system providers. The models are entitled the Partnered Data Acquisition, Partnered Intermediary and Platform Entity models. Each model involves a partnership arrangement between an established insurer and a smart home device or system provider. However, while each model seeks to capitalise value from smart home sensor data, each model does so in different ways, across three spectra, namely, collection of data, connection to mutually beneficial services and condition setting. An analysis of relevant privacy policies is undertaken to highlight each model’s operational data structure, the sensor data collected and its foundational characteristics. In turn, this analysis highlights the commercial uses of smart home sensor data involving new logics, business relationships and intended service outcomes.